20-50 million metric tons of E-waste are disposed worldwide every year.

Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold and silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.

A large portion of what is labeled as “E-waste” is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.

Only 12.5% of E-waste is currently recycled.

For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled 35,274 lbs of copper, 772 lbs of silver, 75 lbs of gold and 33 lbs of palladium can be recovered.

Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 US homes in a year.

E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA.

It takes 540 lbs of fossil fuel, 48 lbs of chemicals and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor.

1.5 billion cell phones sold in 2016, with just 10% of those replaced the following year that is still over 150 million cell phones generated as E-waste.

An average cellphone user replaces their phone once every 18 months.

85% of our E-waste are sent to landfills and incinerators are mostly burned and release harmful toxins in the air.

Electronic devices are a complex mixture of several hundred materials. Many of these contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium as well as hazardous chemicals such as brominated flame retardants. Polluting PVC plastic is also frequently used.

Some brominated flame retardants, used in circuit boards and plastic casings, do not break down easily and build up in the environment. Long-term exposure can lead to impaired learning and memory functions. They can also interfere with thyroid and estrogen hormone systems. Exposure in the womb has been linked to behavioral problems.

The cathode ray tubes (CRT) in monitors sold worldwide contain tens of thousands of tonnes of lead. Exposure to lead can cause intellectual impairment in children and can damage the nervous, blood and reproductive systems in adults.

Cadmium, used in rechargeable computer batteries, contacts and switches and in older CRTs, can bioaccumulate in the environment and is highly toxic, primarily affecting the kidneys and bones.

Mercury, used in lighting devices for flat-screen displays, can damage the brain and central nervous system, particularly during early development.

Compounds of hexavalent chromium, used in the production of metal housings, are highly toxic and carcinogenic to people even in low concentrations.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a chlorinated plastic used in some electronics products and for insulation on wires and cables. Chlorinated dioxins and furans are released when PVC is produced or disposed of by incineration (or simply burning). These chemicals are highly persistent in the environment and many are toxic even in very low concentrations.

Beryllium exposure can cause the development of chronic beryllium disease (CBD). Some of the symptoms include difficulty breathing, weakness, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, join pain, coughing, fever, emphysema and possible development of granulomas through fibrosis of the lungs which can be fatal.